Weather the Storm
by Breea
Summary: There's a new player in Mystic Falls, ready to rid the town of vampires. She is a hunter with a dark past and a mission to save innocent human lives. Unexpectedly, MF doesn't only have vampires, it has people from her past that she'd as soon forget.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

**When the Past Smacks You Upside Your Head**

The bar was crowded. Hannah liked that. It made her less conspicuous. In her line of work it paid to be off the radar.

She surveyed the crowd casually but her ears were tuned into every conversation intently. There were vampires in this town, bad ones, and she was there to deal with them. She was disappointed after a few minutes, however. No one was talking about anything that clued her in on the identities or whereabouts of the vampires she was searching for. Two hours of wasted time in this bar.

Hannah took a long, last drag of her straw, finishing off the rum and coke. Maybe she would have better luck with a quick patrol around the town and neighborhoods. It never hurt to look. Throwing some cash on the table she made to leave but stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of who walked in and sat at the bar.

_Well I'll be damned_, she thought with a wry smile. Someone from her past she never thought she'd see again. Of all the small towns in all the states, here he was. It was a small, small world after all.

There was no debate; she knew she was going to talk to him. How could she not? The chances of them seeing each other again were less than slim. This opportunity was not to be squandered. Plus, he was looking super cute and she wasn't about to pass up the chance of gazing into those baby blues.

He was nursing a drink at the bar, oblivious to the rest of the patrons. He seemed lost in his own little world. That's how she remembered him mostly; lost. She had been a comfort to him for a time, a refuge for his pain, until… Until he rejected her for who she was.

She should probably be bitter but it wasn't in her nature to care that much. He had been a distraction, something fun. His rejection hurt more than she cared to admit at the time but presently she was over it. Now she just wanted to see the look on his face when he saw her. This would be priceless.

Hannah leaned backward, resting both elbows on the bar, inches away from where he was sitting. She lightly perched on the stool for support and didn't look at him right away. She was waiting for him to notice her.

The payoff was delayed in coming but so worth the wait. He ignored her for a few moments, probably because he didn't want to seem over eager that a girl was obviously hitting on him. He finally turned to look at her; she could feel the exact moment his eyes hit her face. With impeccable timing she met his sea blue eyes with her emerald ones. "Hello, Ric." She grinned.

Alaric did an excellent job of not dropping his chin on the bar. Hannah knew him well enough to see the shock and surprise in his face at seeing her despite how hard he tried to hide it. His barely concealed astonishment made her giggle with glee.

"Hannah," He managed to get out. "What are you doing here?"

Hannah shrugged and looked away. "Mystic Falls has such a tourist-y feel, don't you think? People come for miles around just to pass through, right?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. She tilted her head over her shoulder and gave Alaric a look through her lashes. "Come on, Ric, why do you think I'm here?"

He managed to tear his baby blues away from her and stare at his drink. He finished it off with one more toss back and ordered another. Hannah added a second drink for herself. She turned so she faced Alaric on the stool, straddling it, leaning on the bar with one elbow now. She rested her head on her fist, her dark blonde hair falling over her shoulder.

"Vampires." He said it in a weird way. Hannah couldn't tell if he was answering her rhetorical question or cursing the word. In either case, he didn't sound happy.

"Vampires." Hannah agreed, her own voice chipper. The bartender set down their drinks and Alaric downed most of his in a single gulp. Hannah chose to go slow with hers, taking a girly sip. "You know of any?" Hannah realized that he could cut her time down significantly in this town if Ric would help her. He probably already knew names and addresses.

He didn't answer right away. He finished off his glass but didn't order another. Hannah watched his light brown locks fall in his eyes. Instinctively she reached up to brush them away, as she had every day for a year in their past. However this time, he grabbed her hand and glared at her. "Don't." Was all he said.

Hannah didn't take offense. She smiled and took her hand back. "Sorry. You know what they say about old habits." She wished Alaric didn't remember only the bad ending of their relationship. They had had a really good year previous to the break up but he didn't seem to be thinking of that. Only the painful end.

"There aren't any vampires here for you." Alaric finally said softly. He seemed to gather the courage to look at her.

Hannah tsked, shaking her head. "That's not for you to judge, Ric. You know better."

"I **do** know better." He cut her off, his words seething. "I know better than I did before. I've learned a lot in the past year and a half, Hannah. Trust me on this one; there are no vampires here for _you_."

Hannah was taken aback by the sudden anger and forceful change in personality but she was much better at hiding her surprise than Ric had been. She pouted, tilting her head sadly, setting her drink in front of him so he could finish it off. He did without question.

"Ric, I do my research. I know what's been going on here. I know that things aren't going to get better because they've been steadily getting worse. I've been busy before but now this is a top priority. I can't let the slaughter of innocents go on like this. It has to be stopped."

"It's been handled." Ric gave her an intense stare.

Hannah kept a straight face for about ten seconds before a very un-ladylike snort erupted from her. She raised a well manicured eyebrow at him, her green eyes twinkling with amusement. "It's been handled? By you? Sweetie, you know how I feel about you but I don't trust you when you say you've handled it-"

"It's not just me, okay." Ric couldn't stand to be talked down to, she could see that. He cut her off before her rant could go any farther. "I had help. There's a lot going on in this town that your research won't show you. Just know it's being taken care of and we don't need your help. Go off on your next 'priority mission' or whatever you call them."

Hannah squinted at him, trying to figure out his hidden meanings. She didn't like riddles or puzzles or even innuendo. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Why was that so hard? "Are you being vague on purpose or just to be an ass?"

Alaric sighed, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "Hannah," he said, not trying to disguise his irritation. "There's a lot of complicated things going on in Mystic Falls. You being here just complicates things more. You would do more good by leaving than staying. Trust me."

"Complicated things! You know you're just tempting me to stay and figure out what's going on. If you would just tell me, maybe I would go. I can't trust you when you're being purposely evasive." Hannah pointed out with a smile.

Alaric stood from the bar. He threw some money next to his empty glasses. "Fine, be childish." He leaned down close to her, making sure she knew how serious he was by the look in his eye. "But I will not be your puppet. I will not help you in any way, shape, or form. You are on your own with this one."

Hannah had plenty to say to **that** but she bit her tongue. Ric needed the last word for some reason and she supposed she owed him at least that. Because there was no way she was leaving town now. Alaric had just told her all she needed to know to stay. Something was going on in this town with the vampires and she was here to stop it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Will Someone Just Answer Some Questions?**

The next morning came too soon. Hannah was a late sleeper if she could swing it but she was anxious to get this job over with. It had been a surprise to see Ric in Mystic Falls on her first night but the novelty was wearing off. The more she had thought about it last night she realized he was more of a complication than an asset. If he wasn't going to help her he'd probably just get in her way.

Dressing causal for the day she threw on jeans and a tee-shirt and donned her favorite pair of sunglasses. She hit the sidewalks ready for action.

First order of business was to head to the police station to look over the official reports. Most small bergs didn't check credentials very carefully and if they did, she had a way to persuade them. A majority of the time, she got her way without any tricks. She hoped this would be one of those times.

The deputy barely glanced at her ID card when she flashed it. He led her to a computer, typed in the password for her, and told her to find him if she needed anything. So far, smooth as ice. She scanned each of the reports that she had researched previously; Vicki Donovan, a few campers, a few random maulings, a whole building up in flames last spring. There was nothing striking about any except that they were obviously not natural. Something was going on in this town.

One of the reports struck her as strange. She reread it twice before letting out a deep, sad sigh. "Werewolves." She muttered under her breath. She hated werewolves. It was very, very rare to come across them in her line of work; vampires and werewolves usually avoided each other. Most didn't even know the other side existed. Hannah had her own run ins a few times with werewolves, luckily on friendly terms. She knew how volatile they were, however, and never let her guard down when one was around. They tended to be easily angered and loyal only to their packs.

That complicated things, but didn't deter her. Hopefully she could go about this without running into one because she wasn't leaving any time soon. It was very obvious there was at least one evil vampire around, if not more. A vampire that killed for pleasure, one that had no moral sensibilities. Worse than a ripper; this was a vampire that knew what it was doing was wrong and didn't care.

Hannah hated evil vampires. She had run across thousands of vampires in her years and they were pretty much black and white, morally. She had ranks for them mentally, depending on their diet but there definite lines that only the truly evil ones would cross. She was indifferent to the 'good' ones, the ones that seemed to have standards that could equate to morals. Those ones she left alone. She didn't have to hunt them because they weren't doing anything wrong.

Hannah's mission was self appointed. She didn't work for anyone, only herself. She had been a vampire hunter for as long as she could remember. It was her goal, her purpose in life and she took it very seriously. Vampires were bad enough in themselves; she didn't think it was fair to let the bad ones run amok with no consequences.

She quickly clicked through a few more reports, ones that she hadn't been able to research because they weren't open to the public. She chewed her bottom lip as she read, slowly coming to terms with the fact that this was going to be a big job. There was a lot of bad going on in Mystic Falls.

Mentally, she noted a few names that seemed to pop up often in a few different reports. Could mean nothing, could mean everything. Either way, first on her list was going to be this Elena Gilbert.

The house was easy to find. It was pretty in a quaint sort of way, if you like the 'white picket' dream house. Hannah knocked on the door while pulling out her fake FBI identification. People were usually intimidated by the 'FBI agent' routine enough that they would cooperate happily with her questions. No one wanted to irritate the FBI.

A young guy answered the door, hair falling into his eyes as he looked first at her then her badge. "FBI, are you a resident of this house?" He nodded, his eyes widening. "Can I come in? I have a few questions to ask about the recent disappearance of Jenna Sommers."

The smart kid that he was, he took a look at Hannah's outfit. She hated dressing up in a suit even though she knew that would give her more credibility. She smirked at him, stuffing the badge back in her back pocket. "I'm just trying to blend, I don't want to intimidate anyone with the fancy clothes. I just want to ask some questions and get some straight answers." Such a lie but delivered so perfectly the guy only hesitated a moment more before stepped back and motioned for her to come in.

"Sure, come in. I'll get my sister. The living room is right there if you want to have a seat." The boy, obviously Jeremy Gilbert whom Hannah had read about in the reports, bounded upstairs calling his sister's name.

Hannah wandered into the living room and kept herself busy looking at the knickknacks and pictures of the family. She stopped at a picture of what must have been the parents with the two kids. It wasn't taken more than a year or so ago because Jeremy didn't look much younger. She knew the parents were dead but that wasn't what stopped her or turned her blood to ice. She grabbed the picture and brought it closer to her face. What in the hell…

"What are you doing here?" It was a demanded question with a hint of fear. Hannah kept the picture in her hand, forced a smile, and turned to face the man that was quickly becoming a nuisance.

"I could ask you the same." Hannah decided to stand her ground and not move as she stared Alaric down.

"That's none of your business. You shouldn't be here." Alaric's angry side was winning out over fear. It was unfortunate they had previous history together, her intimidation routine wasn't going to work real well on him. He knew her too well.

"I am investigating a disappearance. As an FBI agent, it's what I _do_." Hannah began circling around the couch toward him. "I'm not here to hurt anyone, just ask questions." Hannah stopped a few feet from him and grinned coyly. "Question one: What are _you_ doing here?"

His long pause gave away his internal debate. He was struggling with whether or not to answer when two sets of loud bounding feet came down the stairs. Jeremy and Elena. It was true what they said; she looked exactly like her. Except Elena had a softer sense to her, a more vulnerable, sensitive side that Katherine could only dream of. There was something likable about Elena just by looking at her. Hannah had met Katherine once. There was no redeeming quality in that vampire.

Elena looked questioningly between Hannah and Alaric. "What's going on?" She asked. Jeremy was looking suspicious as well.

"I am here to ask some questions for the ongoing FBI search for your aunt. Do you have a few moments to answer them?" Hannah decided that ignoring Ric might be the best course of action.

Elena, however, seemed to trust Alaric and his death glare at Hannah was not putting her in an answering mood. "Not really, I don't know if I'm ready to talk about it."

Hannah attempted a sympathetic smile. "I know it's difficult but with your help we could find her faster." Hannah was positive the aunt was a vampire or dead at this moment and the worried looks exchanged between the siblings confirmed her suspicion. Elena looked back over to Alaric for direction.

"They said no." Alaric growled. Hannah couldn't help herself; she rolled her eyes and looked at him. Why was he being such a big grump? He knew she was only here to weed out some bad vamps.

"Look, I don't know why you're here, but you know I am here to help. So why don't you _back off_ and let them speak their own minds." This wasn't good; Hannah was losing her patience. She didn't normally lose control of her temper but Ric was making it awfully hard to keep it in check.

"I'm here to look after them." Alaric seethed. He took a deep breath and in a much calmer voice he added. "Jenna was my girlfriend, they need some adult supervision. I'm here to do that until the court decides if Elena is a proper guardian for Jeremy. So, as their temporary guardian, I don't want you asking them any more questions. It's too soon."

Hannah did not let the fact that Alaric used Jenna's name in past tense escape her notice. She was floored, however, that he was playing daddy for these two grown children. That seemed awfully…responsible of him. She remembered Ric as a reckless, care free, dangerous sort of guy; not the one you would want around children. _My my, how time changes us_, she thought wryly.

"Fine. For now. But I do have questions, and they will be answered. You can't avoid me forever, Ric." Hannah sniffed. She set the picture in her hand back in its place and made for the door. She gave a sad smile to Jeremy and Elena as she passed by them and told them softly. "My condolences for your loss. It's been a tough couple years for you two. You're too young to have so much tragedy already."

Before Hannah could reach the front door, it opened and in walked tall, dark, and handsome. Well, handsome in a scary way. His ice blue eyes shot through her instantly, leaving her cold to the bone. He frowned at her as they passed by each other in the hallway. Neither spoke a word to each other; there wasn't much to say. Each knew who the other was, if not by name, by profession.

Hannah smiled as she approached her rented Civic. She had finally met her first vampire in town. When you found one, the rest were easy to find. They were all connected like some big, grotesque family tree. It was near impossible to find a lone vampire in any one town; they always congregated at some point. This trip had made her one step closer to saving this town. Heck, maybe that vampire was the one she was searching for. If so, things just got a whole lot simpler.

Inside the house Damon joined the rest of the group in the living room. Elena was looking at Alaric as though she had just asked him a question and he was shaking his head a though he didn't want to answer. Damon really didn't care about that; he cared about the blond he had just passed in the hallway.

Looking right at Ric he jerked his thumb over his shoulder back toward the way he had come in. "What's with the new vampire?"


End file.
